Most Influental People In SEE: Robert Vincze

2017 will be year of transition. Slovak Tourist Board closes its doors in December 2016, competences are being transferred to Ministry of Transportation, Construction and Regional Development.

Dec 18, 2016

FUTURE BRINGS MORE CONTEXTUAL CONTENT MARKETING

Q:The readers of Kongres magazine chose you as one of the most influential people in the South East European Meetings industry. What does this recognition mean to you?

It makes me truly happy and surprised as well. Most importantly this recognition belongs to my team and partners, who are the real task force behind our results and influence. We try to do things we believe in, we worked really hard in Slovakia in the last years. The joint effort of Slovak destinations and MICE industry to better leverage destination marketing strategies must be paying off. In context of our 3 record years in tourism out of last 4, including MICE and closing down the Slovak Tourist Board (our mother organization) from January 2017, it is also very emotional recognition for me.

Q: If you look back at the 2016, what would you say were your major achievements?

2016 was the year of maturity for Slovak Convention Bureau. We executed a bit less than the year before, but in much higher quality. Our content marketing campaigns exceeded all expectations, also thanks to Kongres Magazine. Communication with destinations has never been better and our industry network never stronger. We managed to target priority markets, secondary markets and long haul markets as well. Never before in history of Slovak MICE industry, did we reach this level of engagement. Engagement of partners is most important aspect for me and consider the current level for our major achievement.

Q: 3. 2017 – New Year, new plans, new business objectives?

2017 will be year of transition. Slovak Tourist Board closes its doors in December 2016, competences are being transferred to Ministry of Transportation, Construction and Regional Development. Unfortunately communication about MICE strategies is not yet part of this process, threatening all activities planned for beginning of 2017, including functionality of Slovak Convention Bureau. Members of Slovak Convention Bureau expressed very strong interest in continuation of this project, this gives us hope that result of our many years work will have continuity. Slovakia will also host first BRICS MICE Travel Market in July, attracting buyers from Brasil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and suppliers – top world destinations, a project very exotic for us. Most important business objective remains successful transition of competences in destination marketing and further development of state support for meetings industry. Ideally by continuous development of professional networks like the Slovak Convention Bureau.

Q: Which event are you looking forward to attend next year and why?

My favorite events every year are Conventa and Convene, IMEX and we simply love visiting IBTM Barcelona.

Q: Which trends do you believe will shape the meetings industry in 2017?

I believe in future of meetings design. I see market for international venue booking portal, similar in importance to Booking.com. I also believe in future of more contextual content marketing.

Q: What is your wish for 2017? Peace, cooperation and lots of successful meetings for all #eventprofs.